As it is known in the art, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is a local-area network that uses high-frequency radio waves, rather than wires, to communicate between nodes. Various types of wireless LAN networks exist, and an example of a wireless data network is described in “IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications—Amendment 1: High-speed Physical Layer in the 5 GHz band”, incorporated herein by reference (hereinafter “802.11”).
Two modes of wireless communication described in 802.11 include infrastructure mode and ad-hoc mode. In infrastructure node, at least one wireless device in the network serves as an Access Point (AP), while other wireless devices are referred to as stations. The AP serves as a communication hub, permitting users of a wireless device (or station) to connect both to a wired LAN and to each other through the AP. Software, executing at a station, selects the best Access Point available for connection to the LAN, taking into consideration various characteristics (such as signal power level and loading) of each AP connection. As stations move, associations are made with different Access Points to maintain a stations' connection with the wired LAN.
In ad-hoc mode, devices or stations communicate directly with each other, without the use of an access point (AP). Ad-hoc mode is also referred to as peer-to-peer mode or an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS), which is capable of providing only a minimal service set to station devices. Thus an ad-hoc mode is useful for establishing a network where wireless infrastructure does not exist or where services are not required.
As the number of appliances having wireless access has increased, there has been an associated increase in the number of residential dwellings that have incorporated wireless networks. For example, wireless appliances which may be included in a residential dwelling include thermostats, security system, televisions, personal video recorders for high definition content (PVR-HD), audio receivers, telephones, personal computers. It is expected that the growth of residential appliances that are wireless enabled will continue to increase.
It is therefore desirable to provide a local area network that is capable of high performance data transfer in a residential multi-media wireless network. However, neither the infrastructure mode nor the ad-hoc mode of the current wireless LAN architecture supported by 802.11 addresses the data flow anomalies of a residential wireless network. It would be desirable to identify a new wireless architecture capable of transforming arbitrarily placed collections of wireless devices into a high performance multi-media backbone interconnect.